Purim

Level: Basic

Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar.
It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved
from extermination.

The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book
of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman
living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were
his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia,
to become part of his harem. King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than his other
women and made Esther queen, but the king did not know that Esther was a
Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her
nationality.

The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the
king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman,
so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people.
In a speech that is all too familiar to Jews, Haman told the king, "There
is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all
the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every
other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is
not befitting the king to tolerate them." Esther 3:8. The king gave the fate
of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased to them. Haman planned
to exterminate all of the Jews.

Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people.
This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into
the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she
had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then
went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman's plot
against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman was hanged on
the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.

The book of Esther is unusual in that it is the only book of the Bible that
does not contain the name of G-d. In fact, it
includes virtually no reference to G-d. Mordecai makes a vague reference
to the fact that the Jews will be saved by someone else, if not by Esther,
but that is the closest the book comes to mentioning G-d. Thus, one important
message that can be gained from the story is that G-d often works in ways
that are not apparent, in ways that appear to be chance, coincidence or ordinary
good luck.

Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar,
which is usually in March. The 13th of Adar is the day that Haman chose for
the extermination of the Jews, and the day that the Jews battled their enemies
for their lives. On the day afterwards, the 14th, they celebrated their survival.
In cities that were walled
in the time of Joshua, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month, because
the book of Esther says that in Shushan (a walled city), deliverance from
the massacre was not complete until the next day. The 15th is referred to as
Shushan Purim.

In leap years, when there are two months of Adar,
Purim is celebrated in the second month of Adar, so it is always one month
before Passover. The 14th day of the first Adar
in a leap year is celebrated as a minor holiday called Purim Katan, which means
"little Purim." There are no specific observances for Purim Katan; however, a
person should celebrate the holiday and should not mourn or fast. Some
communities also observe a "Purim Katan" on the anniversary of any day when their
community was saved from a catastrophe, destruction, evil or oppression.

The word "Purim" means "lots" and refers to the lottery that Haman used to
choose the date for the massacre.

The Purim holiday is preceded by a minor fast,
the Fast of Esther, which commemorates Esther's three days of fasting in
preparation for her meeting with the king.

The
primary commandment related to Purim
is to hear the reading of the book of Esther. The book of Esther is commonly
known as the Megillah, which means scroll. Although there are five books
of Jewish scripture that are properly referred
to as megillahs (Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations),
this is the one people usually mean when the speak of The Megillah. It is
customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle gragers (noisemakers; see
illustration) whenever the name of Haman is mentioned in the service. The
purpose of this custom is to "blot out the name of Haman."

We are also commanded to eat, drink and be merry. According to the
Talmud, a person is required to drink until
he cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be
Mordecai," though opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is. A person
certainly should not become so drunk that he might violate other commandments
or get seriously ill. In addition, recovering alcoholics or others who might
suffer serious harm from alcohol are exempt from this obligation.

In
addition, we are commanded to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make
gifts to charity. The sending of gifts of food and drink is referred to as
shalach manos (lit. sending out portions). Among Ashkenazic Jews, a common
treat at this time of year is hamentaschen (lit. Haman's pockets). These
triangular fruit-filled cookies are supposed to represent Haman's three-cornered
hat. My recipe is included below.

It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays
and parodies, and to hold beauty contests. I have heard that the usual
prohibitions against cross-dressing are lifted during this holiday, but I
am not certain about that. Americans sometimes refer to Purim as the Jewish
Mardi Gras.

Purim is not subject to the sabbath-like restrictions on
work that some other holidays are; however, some
sources indicate that we should not go about our ordinary business on Purim
out of respect for the holiday.

1 cup wheat flour (DO NOT substitute white flour! The wheat flour is necessary
to achieve the right texture!)

Various preserves, fruit butters and/or pie fillings.

Blend butter and sugar thoroughly. Add the egg and blend thoroughly. Add
OJ and blend thoroughly. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating white
and wheat, blending thoroughly between each. Refrigerate batter overnight
or at least a few hours. Roll as thin as you can without getting holes in
the batter (roll it between two sheets of wax paper lightly dusted with flour
for best results). Cut out 3 or 4 inch circles. Put a tablespoon of filling
in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, overlapping
the sides as much as possible so only a little filling shows through the
middle. Squeeze the corners firmly, so they don't come undone while baking.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown but before
the filling boils over!